More London bus stops fitted with CCTV in bid to improve safety for women and girls

This bus stop in Peckham has been fitted with a CCTV camera - (TfL)

The number of bus stops being fitted with CCTV cameras is to be trebled in a bid to make women and girls feel safer travelling around London.

An initial pilot of five locations will be expanded to 20 as Transport for London launches a 12-month trial of the effectiveness of the surveillance cameras.

In April it fitted five bus shelters with CCTV – at Peckham Library, Finsbury Park, Gants Hill, Stratford and Turnpike Lane.

The 15 new locations are in Brent, Croydon, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hillingdon, Lambeth, Newham, Redbridge, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest and Westminster.

The cameras will be available to the Metropolitan police to prevent and investigate crime and to improve incident response with live images.

Only the Met police will have access to the footage, which will be retained for 31 days.

The results of the trial will be used to evaluate the costs and the feasibility of a wider rollout across London.

There are more than 77,000 CCTV cameras on the capital’s public transport network and Mayor Sadiq Khan pledged in his 2024 election manifesto to provide “increased CCTV on bus shelters and in black taxis, private hire vehicles and minicabs”.

The 15 new areas include locations with high footfall, quieter locations with less frequent bus services, higher crime areas, or locations where women and girls have reported feeling more unsafe.

Last year, The Standard reported a six per cent increase in bus crime, from 8,449 incidents to 8,980 between April and September 2023. It is not known how many incidents happened at bus stops rather than on board buses.

However the chance of being a victim of crime remained small – there were 9.7 crimes for every million bus journeys.

Michael Roberts, chief executive of the passenger watchdog London TravelWatch, said: “Our research tells us that many people can feel unsafe when waiting for buses, particularly women and girls.

“This important and valuable trial will not only help detect crime, but will also ensure that women and girls can feel safer and more confident when travelling by bus.

“We look forward to seeing the results of this pilot and for further initiatives to improve safety on London transport.”

Seb Dance, the deputy mayor for transport, said: “Increased CCTV will help to ensure the network is secure and welcoming round the clock, supporting the mayor’s aim to continue building a safer London for everyone.”

Siwan Hayward, TfL’s director of security, policing and enforcement, said: “We know the presence of CCTV and other security measures improves confidence to travel and use public transport, which is why we are expanding our already extensive CCTV network.”

Met commander Ben Russell said: “This pilot… also aims to help us bring more dangerous predators to justice, with CCTV being used as a key tool as part of our investigations.”